Post by xjenNjuicex on Jan 13, 2009 16:51:23 GMT -5

Ok there may already a thread dedicated to this but I don't feel like going though 56 pages to find it soooo...

I read a lot and I'm always looking for suggestions for another good book to read!!! Right now I'm in the middle of "John Lennon: The Life" by Philip Norman and it's great! (soooo interesting) Any suggestions for my next read?

Post by Beckirooo on Jan 13, 2009 16:55:38 GMT -5

ok well my 12 year old daughter is readin the whole Twilight series and i "accidently" picked it up and got HOOKED!! I am on the last book in the series and I am so so glad I read it. Also the book before i got sucked into this was Hunter S.'s Kingdom of Fear...great read!

Post by xjenNjuicex on Jan 13, 2009 16:57:23 GMT -5

ok well my 12 year old daughter is readin the whole Twilight series and i "accidently" picked it up and got HOOKED!! I am on the last book in the series and I am so so glad I read it. Also the book before i got sucked into this was Hunter S.'s Kingdom of Fear...great read!

I got sucked into the Twilight series also. Haha! They are very addictive!!!

Post by Beckirooo on Jan 13, 2009 17:12:15 GMT -5

yes but oh so good....I am just in book one of breaking dawn as bella is finding out her little issue (don't wanna give it away to someone who hasn't read them) on the honeymoon....she is headed home to see Carlisle....gotta say so far I am totally TEAM EDWARD! lol

Post by rojimmy on Jan 13, 2009 17:27:33 GMT -5

Ok there may already a thread dedicated to this but I don't feel like going though 56 pages to find it soooo...

I read a lot and I'm always looking for suggestions for another good book to read!!! Right now I'm in the middle of "John Lennon: The Life" by Philip Norman and it's great! (soooo interesting) Any suggestions for my next read? [/quote

Not exactly sure of what all your into but I also read alot and just finished one of the best books I've read in a long time. Its called Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. He is the guy who wrote Davinci code this story precedes that book and also involves the same character -Robert Langdon. The end in this who is it mystery is stellar. Not just a murder mystery though its just an incredible story filled with interesting facts about the Catholic church and Rome, the Vatican etc..mixed with a very compelling fiction story.

Post by StreetBum87 on Jan 13, 2009 17:41:06 GMT -5

Ok there may already a thread dedicated to this but I don't feel like going though 56 pages to find it soooo...

I read a lot and I'm always looking for suggestions for another good book to read!!! Right now I'm in the middle of "John Lennon: The Life" by Philip Norman and it's great! (soooo interesting) Any suggestions for my next read?

hey i got that book for christmas...along with behind sad eyes ( george harrison) gonna read that first then the lennon book

Post by dcbee on Jan 13, 2009 17:44:24 GMT -5

I just finished The Year of Living Biblically and loved it. Author is a secular Jew who has lived in NYC his whole life so gives a really interesting perspective on the Bible and what it has to say (especially for this Unitarian Universalist!)

Post by maddyroo on Jan 13, 2009 18:00:42 GMT -5

I suggested Goodbye, Amelia. in the Random Thoughts thread a few days ago, but I'd like to bring it up again. It's by Simone Felice of The Felice Brothers and it is now one of my favorites. As I first discovered through their music, I personally think he's such an amazing, unique and beautiful writer. I'm passing the book on to a lot of my friends in the hopes that they'll like it just as much. It's separated into two parts, Novella and Coda. The first is a short story about a girl named Amelia and the second is a collection of other shorts and poems. www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Amelia-Fictions-Simone-Felice/dp/0972635793

Post by on Jan 13, 2009 18:04:12 GMT -5

I'm nearing the end of A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, and heartily recommend that.

^^that's an amazing book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in US history or politics. Howard Zinn lives about five minutes from my house - if I had stayed at my old high school, I would've gotten to see him give a speech in the school auditorium.

Post by purplefuzzystuff on Jan 14, 2009 2:39:19 GMT -5

I'm nearing the end of A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, and heartily recommend that.

^^that's an amazing book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in US history or politics. Howard Zinn lives about five minutes from my house - if I had stayed at my old high school, I would've gotten to see him give a speech in the school auditorium.

That is so awesome! I would love to hear him, or have him come do a signing. It would be great to have someone with literary substance in my store. We have people like Tucker Max and Rachel Ray......Rachel Ray..... It can't be hard to get people, we have Robert Wallace who wrote Spycraft shop in the store....but no....Tucker Max

Post by JHOinTN on Jan 14, 2009 13:05:44 GMT -5

I'm also brushing up my "Need to read" list since I recently got a library card, so this thread is right up my alley!

It's always hard to recommend books when you don't know someone's preference, but I have a few suggestions for anyone that enjoys reading anything and everything:

"God is Dead" by Ron Currie, Jr. - I picked this up while waiting in line at the midnight release for the last Harry Potter book in 2007. I read the first chapter and knew I needed to read the rest. It's a really interesting take on what the world would be like if God was dead. Makes you think.

The Best Non-Required Reading series (edited by Dave Eggers, if anyone is familiar with his stuff or even McSweeney's) - I have all of these books from 2002-2007. It's a great collection of essays, articles, short stories and comics. Good for someone who may not have the attention span to read an entire novel, I fall into that category sometimes.

"Hearts in Atlantis" by Stephen King- hands down my favorite Stephen King book but not one of his better known books. It apparently incorporates some elements from the "Dark Tower" series, but it's not the same kind of book as those (so I've heard). It's not scary at all, like some of his other books can be ("The Shining" scared the poop out of me), and the movie is CRAP so don't even bother with it. I read it usually about once a year and am always blown away at the message.

Post by coanbread751 on Jan 14, 2009 15:00:28 GMT -5

Just got some great books for Xmas and so far they have all been great."Another Roadside Attraction" by Tom Robbins"Holidays On Ice", "Me Talk Pretty One Day", and "Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim" all by David Sedaris. GREAT WRITER!"A Fraction Of The Whole" by Steve Toltz....if you love "A Confederacy Of Dunces" than this novel is for you."Drinking, Smoking, and Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times" this is a collection of excerpts and essays of some GREAT writers.

the "Watchmen" graphic novel is probably my favorite thing that I have read since Christmas however. I'm not a comic book guy and I have only read this and the "Preacher" series.....both are amazing.

Post by freebyrd on Jan 14, 2009 16:38:27 GMT -5

I really liked Water for Elephants. It's about a boy who runs around and joins the circus I think in like the 1800's. If you liked the show Carnivale which used to be on HBO you will like this book. I loved the show, and the book really reminded me of it.

I also really liked Daughter of China. It's about a chinese woman in some kind of army acadamy in China, who gets in trouble when she falls in love with an american and tries to escape, and she's tortured and interrogated.

Post by dasclyde on Jan 14, 2009 19:40:24 GMT -5

One of HST's earlier works, The Rum Diaries, was really good, I read it a few months back. I just recently finished the Strange by Camus, which I think was recommended to me by Idioteque here...and Slaughterhouse 5 by Vonnegut was good too. Douglas Adams is good, he's the author of the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy stuff...I just picked up the restaurant at the end of the universe and it's pretty good, read hitchhikers guide awhile back. Hmmm...what else...Fahrenheit 451 was easily one of the best books I've ever read. I don't understand, when I was in high school all the books we read were so boring but there is so much good literature to be had!

Post by herecomesthesun on Jan 19, 2009 3:30:14 GMT -5

The Time Traveler's Wife is a really wonderful novel. If I tried to describe it, you would think it was sci-fi meets romance and assume it was too "genre", but you would really be doing yourself a favor to give it a chance because the author Audrey Niffenegger (a talented professor of papermaking at Columbia College of Chicago) crafts the most beautiful and unique love story... it is dark, yet hopeful; the subject matter is in the realm of fantasy but the story itself is authentic and layered... I love it! Read it!

Post by LunaPooka on Jan 19, 2009 3:42:54 GMT -5

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (One of my favorites of his, other great ones are Player Piano and Slapstick)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Inspired by The Jungle Book, but about a boy raised in a graveyard by ghosts-only this author good make this story this good.)

I'm currently reading When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. (So far, not as great as others I've read of his.)

In a few days, it's back to reading my nursing textbooks. :-( I miss literature that doesn't involve memorizing signs and symptoms, medications, lab values and treatments.

I don't want to start a war here... but I read the first Twilight book and I did not like it. I found Bella to be unlikeable and annoying. I didn't like how it ended and I think it's mostly very soft-core porn for 13-14 year olds. Which is great for them, but I didn't really get into it.

Post by jeffp1717 on Jan 20, 2009 23:15:02 GMT -5

I just finished reading The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. I can't lie, I picked it up entirely because it's going to be a Coen brothers movie in a couple of years. I must say though, it really was a terrific book. Amazing writing that makes me really want to get another of his novels. It's set in modern-day Alaska, but in an Alaska where all the Jews in Europe fled in 1948. The story itself is a cool murder mystery with many layers and twists. Next up is Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins, who I'm totally addicted to after reading a reccomendation of Still Life With Woodpecker from someone on this board, actually. That's a must-read in itself, by the way.

Post by Potato on Jan 20, 2009 23:36:36 GMT -5

My Sister got me a copy of "Song Book" by Nick Hornby for christmas, a great collection of essays about his favorite songs. Each essay explore how great it is to be a fan of music and how a certain song can bring back feelings and memories. A must read for any music fan. He also has some great fiction like "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy"

Also I just finished up The Watchmen which was a good read, never really got into a graphic novel before but this was really hard to put down once I got into it.

I just finished reading The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. I can't lie, I picked it up entirely because it's going to be a Coen brothers movie in a couple of years. I must say though, it really was a terrific book. Amazing writing that makes me really want to get another of his novels. It's set in modern-day Alaska, but in an Alaska where all the Jews in Europe fled in 1948. The story itself is a cool murder mystery with many layers and twists. Next up is Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins, who I'm totally addicted to after reading a reccomendation of Still Life With Woodpecker from someone on this board, actually. That's a must-read in itself, by the way.

Post by on Jan 21, 2009 0:23:11 GMT -5

My Sister got me a copy of "Song Book" by Nick Hornby for christmas, a great collection of essays about his favorite songs. Each essay explore how great it is to be a fan of music and how a certain song can convey bring back feelings and memories. A must read for any music fan. He also has some great fiction like "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy"

Also I just finished up The Watchmen which was a good read, never really got into a graphic novel before but this was really hard to put down once I got into it.

Nick Hornby is one of my favorite authors, I'll be sure to check that out. High Fidelity and About a Boy are both excellent, though the book of his that I like the most is A Long Way Down. I will be sure to check out the book of essays - thanks for the heads up!

I've also heard great things about The Watchmen, but, ehhhh, I don't know, I've never really gotten into comic books and graphic novels. Growing up, both my brothers and my uncle had bookcases full of superhero comics, and even my dad still has a stack of Modesty Blaise in the basement. Batman, Spiderman, The X-Men, The Hulk, you name it - they were all into them, but I never understood the appeal. The only graphic novels I've read are Maus and Persepolis, and the only comics I enjoyed as a kid were the Simpsons Comics and Beavis and Butthead. However, I'll still end up seeing the movie, most likely.

Post by Potato on Jan 21, 2009 14:28:54 GMT -5

My Sister got me a copy of "Song Book" by Nick Hornby for christmas, a great collection of essays about his favorite songs. Each essay explore how great it is to be a fan of music and how a certain song can convey bring back feelings and memories. A must read for any music fan. He also has some great fiction like "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy"

Also I just finished up The Watchmen which was a good read, never really got into a graphic novel before but this was really hard to put down once I got into it.

Nick Hornby is one of my favorite authors, I'll be sure to check that out. High Fidelity and About a Boy are both excellent, though the book of his that I like the most is A Long Way Down. I will be sure to check out the book of essays - thanks for the heads up!

I've also heard great things about The Watchmen, but, ehhhh, I don't know, I've never really gotten into comic books and graphic novels. Growing up, both my brothers and my uncle had bookcases full of superhero comics, and even my dad still has a stack of Modesty Blaise in the basement. Batman, Spiderman, The X-Men, The Hulk, you name it - they were all into them, but I never understood the appeal. The only graphic novels I've read are Maus and Persepolis, and the only comics I enjoyed as a kid were the Simpsons Comics and Beavis and Butthead. However, I'll still end up seeing the movie, most likely.

"A Long Way Down" was actually the first Hornby I read, after which I discovered he'd written books that two movies I really enjoyed had been based on. I can understand the trepidation with The Watchmen, u was so stoked for the movie, and I always feel like I should read the book before I see the movie, and I was suprised at how I got over the fact it was in comic book format and just got pulled it and knocked it out in a few days.

Post by wolfmanjess on Jan 23, 2009 12:46:48 GMT -5

I don't want to start a war here... but I read the first Twilight book and I did not like it. I found Bella to be unlikeable and annoying. I didn't like how it ended and I think it's mostly very soft-core porn for 13-14 year olds. Which is great for them, but I didn't really get into it.

I agree completely, they were badly written, trite, and to a certain extent fairly sexist.